Labor
Secretary Elaine L. Chao Discusses Efforts to Assist Businesses
in Complying with Labor Regulations
WASHINGTON—U.S.
Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao spoke to members of the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce today about the U.S. Department of Labor’s increased
efforts to help employers understand how to comply with the Department’s
employment laws and regulations.
Under
Chao’s leadership, the Labor Department has placed a significant
emphasis on increasing its compliance assistance efforts to better
protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, safety
and health of America’s workforce. Chao emphasized that increased
compliance assistance does not replace or in any way detract from
strong enforcement.
“With
this new compliance assistance initiative, the Department has initiated
a comprehensive program to reach out to employers and employees
to educate them about our nation’s employment laws,” said
Chao. “There is a new era of responsibility at the Department
of Labor to help the regulated community understand these exhaustive
rules and regulations.”
As
part of this new effort, Secretary Chao recently created an Office
of Compliance Assistance Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Policy. This office is headed by a highly respected career Senior
Executive Service professional, Barbara Bingham.
The
Secretary also announced two new compliance assistance tools, the
FirstStep Employment Law Advisor and the Employment Law Guide.
The
FirstStep Employment Law Advisor is a new e-tool, available at www.dol.gov/elaws,
that helps employers determine which laws administered by DOL apply
to their business or organization and provides easy-to-access information
on how to comply with the laws’ requirements.
The
Employment Law Guide describes the Department’s main laws and
regulations in plain language for employers needing introductory
information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health and nondiscrimination
policies for their businesses. It is available both online and in
print, in both English and Spanish. Copies are available free of
charge by calling the Department’s Toll-Free Information Service
at 1-866-4-USA-DOL.
Credit:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/asp/asp2003155.htm
The
Office of the 21st Century Workforce of the Department of Labor
was created to ensure that all American workers have the opportunity
to equip themselves with the necessary tools to succeed in their
careers and in whatever field they choose in this new and dynamic
global economy.
Related
Information:
NBA
Benefit Provider - Office
of the 21st Century Workforce of the Department of Labor
NBA
Resource Article - BusinessLaw.gov
NBA
Resource Article - Verify
Employment Records
Reprint
of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National
Business Association; the article is for informational purposes
for our members and viewers of our Web site.
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